maxscatalanexperiences - Tumblr blog

maxscatalanexperiences · 2 years ago

Text

Blog Post 2

Carrer de Montcada: This street is located in the El Borne neighborhood and is known for its art galleries, shops, and workshops. The street is also contaoins the "Museu Picasso", which showcases the works of the famous artist Pablo Picasso.

Carrer dels Petons: This street is in Barcelona's El Raval neighborhood and is known for tattoo and piercing studios. You are also able to find shops that sell handmade jewelry, clothing, and other boutique products.

Carrer de la Boqueria: Near the "Mercat de la Boqueria", Carrer de la Boqueria is known for its many food/market shops. Passerbys can find shops that sell handcrafted tea, spices, and sweets. The street is also home to several bakeries which sell anything from bread to cakes.

Carrer de la Llibreteria: This street is located in the Gothic Quarter and has countless book stores. Some of these stores sell rare and antique books, while others offer handmade journals and notebooks.

Carrer de la Bisbal: Carrer de la Bisbal is also in in the Gothic Quarter and is home to many ceramic shops. Visitors can find shops that sell handmade pottery as well as pottery classes and workshops.

The "Els Gremis", or guilds, were established in Barcelona during the Middle Ages. These were formed by craftsmen and tradesmen who worked in specialized professions, such as shoemakers, artists, and bookmakers. Similar to unions, these guilds helped these professionals regulate trade, create standards, and protect and preserve their craft. They also played an important role in the economic life of the city, and many of their buildings, monuments and streets can still be seen in Barcelona today.

2. "La casa-taller" was a family house in medieval Barcelona where both living work spaces and living areas were in the same building. Normally, there were multiple floors containing different rooms and items. The ground floor of the house would normally be used as the work area. It was often an open space that had space for the equipment needed for the craftsman's trade. Sometimes, these houses would have a mezzanine which could be used for storage or as a workspace. Often, the first floor was the living area of the house. It was usually divided into a couple of rooms; kitchen, living room, and sometimes bedroom. The next floor was a sleeping area for the family members or apprentices of guild members.

3. Notably, the construction of the balconies and floors varied as you progressed upwards. Often, it can be seen that balconies get smaller and smaller as you go up. Moreover, the roof and window size decreases. These buildings were also built to last, and were constructed mostly out of stone. These buildings were also very narrow and had a less uniform construction as some buildings outside the old walls. There was also no plumbing in these buildings, so any bowel or bathroom activities were collected in a bucket and thrown on the street.

4. Santa María del Mar: The Gothic-style church was the church we saw on our field trip this week. It is a symbol of Catalan uprising because it was built by the Catalan community without any support from the church or crown. The Santa María represents the values of community and individualism, which are deeply embedded in the Catalan culture.

El Mercat del Born: This market in Barcelona was built in the 19th century. Like many in this list, it was a symbol of Catalan identity and resistance to the Spanish state and crown. As we saw, the market was built on top of the ancient ruins of the city's medieval area.

El Fossà de les Moreres: This is a street in the Gothic Quarter which directly translates to "The Grace of the Mullberrys". This was the site of an uprising against the French occupation of Barcelona in the 1800s. Although this failed, it has become a symbol of the Catalan freedom struggle.

La Ciutadella Park: The public park that was originally built as a fortress after the War of the Spanish Succession. Since then, it has become a symbol of Catalan history. It was also the site of the first Universal Exhibition, or Worlds Fair, held in Spain in 1888. The park also contains many people practicing traditional cultural, recreational activities and has therefore become a symbol of the city's identity.

5. These decease from 1714 marked the official end of the Catalan freedom movement and established Philip V as the ruler of Spain (including Catalonia). This brought upon many changes to the community and country as a whole. Most notably, Catalan language and tradition was outlawed. The official language of the whole country became Spanish. This meant that all business, schooling and government work had to be done in Spanish, not Catalan. This also stripped the Catalan people of their cultural identity as they were unable to practice many of the traditions which used to be staples in Catalan culture.

6. El Consolat de Mar was explained to us as a stock exchange and consulate. The building was very close to the sea and ports, meaning it was in a great position for trade. Many sailors and merchants would travel to Barcelona to sell their goods and services in the cities many markets and shops. This court regulated the buying and selling as well as established rules when it came to sea travel and trade. The influence of the Consolat started to extend past the city and developed ground rules for sea trade.

0 notes

maxscatalanexperiences · 2 years ago

Text

Assignment 1

The Romans architecture served as a base for many of the Catalan buildings seen in Barcelona today. The Romans, extremely advanced for their time, were able to integrate a sewage system and a way to deliver clean water to the city. However, they were also an older society. This means they lacked some of the advantages seen in Catalan architecture and city planning. Roman streets were much narrower and paved with brick rather unevenly. The Roman buildings are also much less intricate and don't provide much facade art or color. Catalan architecture, in my opinion, has much more color and design involved.

2. The Roman religious shift was brought on by the introduction of Christianity. This switch from Polytheism to Monotheism was accompanied by a switch in the way religion was portrayed in art. Before, the art and sculptures of Roman gods and goddesses depicted acts of their grace, tales of their glory and celebratory events. Wine was often included or alluded to and multiple gods or goddesses were often present. When the society adopted Christianity, the art became solely focused on the grace and glory of god and Jesus Christ. Jesus was often the center of these works of art, but they would also include important and influential saints.

3. The most striking similarity between ancient Catalan and Roman construction was family house. They both included similar layouts with an open area in the middle. I also noticed similarities between the old state buildings like the bank or the buildings in Placa Sant Jaume. The structure of columns were used heavily in both civilizations and they relied on them to support most of their structures. However, it is clear that the Catalonian columns are more intricate and have more unique design elements.

3a. The Culina was the kitchen area of a Roman domus. It was often in the corner of the house was mostly occupied by slaves or servants of the household. The wealthy families did not cook their own meals, and the room was often dim and poorly ventilated.

3b. The perastylum was a porch that wrapped around the inside part of the domus and surrounded the courtyard. There were often pillars or collums that defined this area.

3c. The atrium was the courtyard area. It was in the middle of the house, surrounded by the perastylum, and had an open ceiling. There was often a garden in the atrium with statues of important gods or goddess.

3d. The triclinium was the formal dining area of the roman household. There were often three lecti, which were similar to a day bed. The members of the family would lounge on these and all eat around the table in the middle of the lecti.

4. I think the most surprising aspects about most of the objects found in the museum was how ordinary they were. When I think about going to a museum and seeing ancient roman artifacts, I imagine seeing statues and pottery and paintings. However, there were many every-day objects meant to show you how the Romans lived their lives. Seeing normal objects such as children's toys or writing utensils was fascinating to me because it bridges the gap between our two cultures. These objects show that we as people and as cultures were much more similar than we would imagine.

5. Wine played a critical role in the Roman culture, religion and every day life. Wine was the uniting factor in Roman times and brought family, friends and lovers together. The Romans even had gods to represent this passion. Bacchus was the god of wine and was greatly celebrated in Roman culture. He also was the god of fertility, showing that the Romans felt wine was almost synonymous with love and family. Christianity adopted wine as the blood of christ and was integrated into the religion because the Romans treasured it so much. This can be seen in the wine brands like Xarel-lo and Cava. These Catalonian wine brands are celebrated across Catalonia and the world, and are part of what makes Catalonia so unique.

6. The Baptism pool was used to baptized all those who vowed to follow Christ and Christianity. Although now it is common to get baptized shortly after you are born, many of those who vowed to devote their life to Christianity were baptized in the middle of their life. This switch made when Christianity was brought to the region and adopted by the royal family. The noble families then followed suit and soon most of the region had converted to Christianity. Addtionally, the swtich to Christianity meant his teachings had to be spread to everyone. So, Crusades would often take the of-age male children away from the family.

1 note · View note